Posts Tagged ‘2023’

Once upon a time in Ireland, four lads got together in 2002 to create some funny as fuck and heavy as fuck Thrash Metal and throughout the course of eight full-length releases; including Bats they have achieved that goal whole-handedly, because goddamn Bats is fucking incredible. Does it stand up against Survival of the Fastest […]

So here it finally is…. the new Suffocation album, and notably the first release without original vocalist Frank Mullen, since the band formed in 1990. While other members (other than the other lone original member, guitarist Terrance Hobbs), have come and gone, Frank and Terrance have been there since day one, so this album is […]

So this fall sees a couple of Matt Schott (Valdur, Sxuperion) projects drop new albums. There’s a disgusting new Cabinet EP and this project he has with his former cohort in Weverin, named Oreamnos. I covered the prior Oreamnos release, Into the Night, and it was as I was expected considering Schott’s (who does drums […]

I listen to a lot of Black Metal, and through doing these reviews I hear a lot of different styles, so it’s not a surprise that I love the absolute hell out of this album. I could leave it there, however my editor would yell at me though and I don’t want that. But I […]

I’m surprised this project didn’t get more attention earlier this autumn. It is a project formed from the ashes of Cruish-Nir, which was Romanian lyricist/conceptualist Valentin Untaru and multi-instrumentalist Robert Cotoros. However, after the passing of Cotoros in 2020, Untaru resurrected the project but gathered some well-known musicians to bring his lyrics and concepts to […]

Is this the Death/Doom album of the year? That’s for you to decide, bitch. However, Death/Doom is absolutely my wheelhouse and I have been underwhelmed by a lot of the output so far this year. At this time last year, I felt the same, and then Mother of Graves punched me in the gut. So, […]

Even though it has been 7 long years since Poland’s experimental black metal act Furia released Księżyc milczy luty back in 2016, the sexy ass song “Zwykłe czary wieją” still gets a lot of airtime and kept the band on my radar over the years. So I was delighted when Huta Luna showed up out […]

All the underground maniacs, me included rejoiced in moribund when Autopsy put the pieces back together and reformed in 2008/2009.  The band always a cult favorite was happy to see how their name, over the years, had grown to more than just cult status.  What was originally supposed to be a short-lived reunion became full-blown […]

I have a soft spot for Gothic Metal. It goes pretty deep, this Gothic love. So when this album popped up in the promo bin I picked it out because I saw that Kostas Salomidis was attached to it. In case you haven’t heard of him, then you should be checking out his band Distorted […]

For my real, actual paying job, I do a fair bit of travel and on said travel, I meet some interesting folks. Some good, some bad, some eccentric. What has always been consistent is metal heads, when they identify each other in the wild, generally get along and have a good time. It’s just kind […]

Canada’s Tomb Mold have a pretty good underground death metal following in their short 8-year existence and their output has been excellent, honing their craft and releasing better albums each and every time.  Their third album in 2019, Planetary Clairvoyance, was their finest hour.  The band increased their touring output as well increased their exposure […]

Technical Death Metal Italians Gory Blister returns with the 7th full length.  The album kicks off with a cool synth intro into some thrashy riffing over aggressive blasting.  Reminds me of a cross between Vader and Hate Eternal.  “Push through the Venom” gets things kicked off after a fun short intro.   The production is quite […]

Listen, I’ll keep this short, sweet, and brutal, much like Der Ertraeger und das Fleisch, the fourth album from Austria’s Distaste. Want a 14-song, 29-minute gut punch of HM2-tuned Nasum and Rotten Sound-styled grindcore? Just fucking get this. From start to finish, Der Ertraeger und das Fleisch (“The Yielder and the Flesh”?) is a face-ripping, […]

If somehow Gravesend’s previous album, Methods of Human Disposal, didn’t catch your eye with its artwork of a nun holding a newspaper with the headline “Pope Shot,” perhaps their new album Gowanus Death Stomp will. If you were able to get through my introductory run-on sentence, good for you. Good for all of us. Good […]

Long Island, New York’s Afterbirth return with their third album In but Not Of, and the band has shifted from Unique Leader Records to Willowtip, another reputable, but smaller record label.  The album cover, once again done by guitarist mastermind, Cody Drasser, is eye-catching, and ties in with their previous ones.  I am not a […]

This long fairly long-running Norwegian black metal band is new to me, but when I saw references to the likes of early Arcturus and Borknagar in the promotional blurb that came with it, I had to check it out. And Ye gads the blurb was correct! And indeed, eccentric symphonic black metal with a quirky […]

Everything about the UK’s Svalbard can be characterized, in one way or another, as high-freaking-impact. Even when the band is taking a brief respite from their usual full-speed-ahead musical approach – a high-octane mix of Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, Black Metal and D-Beat that rarely (if ever) pulls any punches – they’re still likely coming at you face-first […]

There’s no argument that this summer has been the hottest the planet has ever experienced. Temperatures soared into the hundreds and a desperate population searched for any relief from the blistering heat. However it’s fall now (meteorologically speaking) and an album to fit the changing season is needed. Enter Malokarpatan and their fourth full-length Vertumnus […]

I love Black Metal, the rawer the better, and the more tortured and vile the better. The raw hate of the Black Legions in France, True Norwegian Black Metal, the fact is that every country has it’s own vital scene, using their traditional influences to carve their own niche and get that legendary status that […]

From Helsinki Finland, Technical Dissonant Death Metallers Omnivortex returns with their second full-length Circulate. The album kicks off with “Dwells” which opens with a huge dissonant vibrato riff that leads the way for an impressive track.   What makes Omnivortex unique is their dual vocal approach. Both the drummer Aaro Osterman and guitarist Aaro Österman manage […]

After 3 years, countless singles, EPs, and compilations former Amon Amarth and Blood Mortized guitarist Anders Biazzi and his cohorts are finally back with a full-length album (number 5) to follow up 2020s An Army at Dawn, one of the better Bolt Thrower worshiping albums of the last few years. But there are a few […]

I love all things Brujeria.  When they first were getting signed to Roadrunner Records the promotion for their upcoming 1993 debut Matando Gueros was genius.  The magazine, pre-internet, had members of the label in a basement surrounded by the band, the band with bandanas around their faces and they had AK-47’s pointed at it was […]

In the end, how do you want to be remembered? Will you be remembered at all? The ultimate weight of our own legacy hangs like a formless specter, bearing down on us with every waking moment, growing heavier and more gnarled with every step towards this life’s inevitable conclusion. And that’s kind of a bitch, […]

New Yorks’ Immortal Suffering returns with a brand new EP- Extreme Torture.  5 songs of brutal NYDM, in 18 minutes.  The perfect length of time for this release.  The band adding some new blood into the band with: Taylor Schranck on bass and Jordon Mamaluke on vocals formerly the vocalist for another NYDM band Coronary […]

Spain’s Decapitated Christ has been knocking around for a while now releasing albums with titles like Antikristian Extreme Dekapitation, The Vanishment and Extermination of the Deities, and their last effort in 2014, Arcane Impurity Ceremonies. Well after 9 years they are at it again with album number 5, and while it’s probably not a reunion […]